By Asif Burhan
It wasn’t meant to be like this.
Women’s football has always been promoted as the antidote to the ills of the men’s game. Without the corrupting money, the diving or the scandal. Well, there’s still no money, as Sunderland proved by banishing their WSL 1 club from the club’s training ground last week to make way for the men’s youth leagues. Coverage of women’s football is also still hampered by an unbreakable vicious circle of editors not believing it generates “hits” but not putting enough content out there to be hit.
Yet, followers of the game always believed they were watching something somehow more Corinthian in spirit. However this summer’s allegations and denials which have made women’s football front-page news for all the wrong reasons and ensured that, despite all the headlines, women actually playing football, is still not being talked about.
How different it was this summer in the Netherlands. No need to talk about grand strategies and public image when you have a winning team. No carefully manicured FA launch or press briefing can ever create a surge in the game like a National Team that captivates. The Netherlands have showed our public and press that women’s football can be a popular mainstream sport.
While the Lionesses’ run to a second successive semi-final didn’t have the same breakthrough impact of their first in 2015, it did consolidate England’s position at the forefront of the game. TV audiences are now more consistent and fans travelled to watch the National Team like never before.
So as the first winter FA WSL season kicks off tonight in Widnes, how best can we capitalise on this moment to ensure this interest is not lost in the never-ending swell of the Premier League?
As Anneka Nuttall, captain of Watford Ladies explained, “I think what’s becoming more apparent is that international players aren’t just playing in WSL 1.”
